Furnace



, Dec. l5, 1931. w. K. GREG@ 1,836,795

FURNAC E Filed July 9, 195o Tfi His Abtov'neg.-

Patented Dec. 15, 1931 UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFICE WILLIAM K. GREGG, OF FORT WAYNE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR T GENERAL ELECTRIC l COMPANY, A CORPORATION' 0F NEW YORK FURNACE Application filed July 9, 1930. Serial No. 466,645.

My invention relates to furnaces, more particularly to furnaces of the car bottom elevator type, and has for its object the provision of means for accurately positioning the car with relation to the furnace.

Although not limited thereto, my invention has special application to furnaces of the car bottom elevator type in which the structure enclosing the furnace heating chamber is mounted in an elevated position and provided with a bottom opening,.and in which the charge and thek bottom wall, or at least a sufficient section of the bottom wall to close the bottom opening of the furnace,

is carried on a car or truck. This` car may be movable on a suitable track to a position below the furnace opening and then elevated with the charge to insert the charge and close the furnace. Before the car is raised,

it must be accurately positioned below the furnace opening so that it will arrive in the proper position. In order to reduce the heat losses it is desirable to provide a fairly close fit between the bottom wall carried by the car and the opening in the furnace. This requirement obviously involves accuracy in the positioning of the car prior to its being elevated. The track iself serves to position the car with sufficient accuracy in a direction transverse thereto and, therefore, the remaining requirement is to set the car in the proper position on the track. Y

In carrying out my invention, I provide y means for stopping the car in the correct po sition on the track when it is moved underneath the furnace together with means for securing the car in this position while it is being elevated.

F or a more complete understanding of my invention, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation view partially in section of an electric furnace embodying my invention, while Figs. 2, 8 and 4 are enlarged fragmentary views showing details of construction.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown my invent-ion in one formas applied to an velectric elevator type furnace comprising la heating chamber 10 formed by heat refractory walls 11 which are in turn surrounded by a metallic casing 12. This structure is mounted in an elevated position on a suitable metallic framework 18. The furnace is pro-- vided with a bottom opening 14, which may be closed by a heat refractory Wall 15 mounted on a suitable car or truck 16 provided with flanged wheels 17 adapted to cooperate with a pair of rails, only one of which 18 is shown, constituting a track. As shown in Fig. l, the car and bottom wall 15, with the charge 20, are in their elevated position closing the furnace chamber. A sand or water leal 19 is provided to prevent the escape of eat.

To provide for elevating the car with a charge, a relatively short section 21 of the track, which section is appreciably longer than the wheel base of the car, is mounted on suitable supports 22 and 23 on a platform 24. For convenience in lifting it, the platform 24 is provided on each side with an upwardlj7 ex-` tending support 25 terminating in a ring 26 to which hooks 27 attached to a suitable elevating motor, not shown, are secured. In order to secure the car in the desired position on the platform while it is being raised, a short section 28 of the track underneath each of the four wheels is made movable for a short distance in a vertical direction so as to drop down due to the weight of the car when the platform is raised, whereby recesses are formed in the rails to secure the wheels. Each short section 28 is supported with its upper flanges 29 and 30 (F ig. 4) resting on brackets 31 and 32 embracing the web of the movable section and secured at their ends to the sections of the track on each side. When the platform with the car is lowered, each of the short movable sections 28-is engaged by a projection or post 88 mounted in the bottom of the pin 34 for the platform. It will be understood that the projections 33 extend through apertures provided for them in the platform 24 and are of such height that they engage the movable track sections 28 ust before the platform reaches its 'lowermost position so that the sections 28 are lifted topositions flush with the adjacent sections of the track as indicated in Figs. 2 and 4.

It will be understood that the track 18 eX- tends underneath the furnace so that the car may be pushed under the furnace from either side and, furthermore, that the track itself serves to properly position the car and the furnace bottom l5 in a lateral direction. F or stopping the car in the proper position on the track with its wheels on the movable sections 28, I provide on one or both tracks a stop member 35 which is pivotally mounted on a pin 36 secured to one side, as shown the outer side, of the rail 18 in a position adjacent the pin opening 34. This stop member, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, is pivoted at a point near its center. On one end it is provided with a heavy stop projection 37, which may be welded on the end of the pivoted member, extending in a direction at right angles to the pivot pin 36. This end is sufiiciently heavy to rotate the member, whereby the extension 37 normally drops down to the lowermost position as indicated in F ig. l.

For engagement with the stop member, an arm 38 is secured to the framework of the car, as shown to the cross beam 39, in a position directly above the track. This arm has a lateral projection 40 on its outermost end which projection has its end turned downward to form a projection 4l lying adjacent the outer flange of the track. This projection 4l cooperates with the normally uppermost, laterally offset, operating projection or end 42 of the stop member so as to turn the member on its pivot as the car moves past. With the car moving in a direction from the right to the left, as viewed in the drawings, it will be obvious that the stop member is simply turned in a counterclockwise direction far enough for the projection 4l to move over it. It will be observed that the end 42 is offset to the same side of the stop member as the extension 37 so that with the car moving from the left to the right the stop member is swung to a substantially horizontal position, as indicated in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, whereby the lateral projection 37 is moved upward so that it projects upward above the top of the rail. In this position the projection 37 engages a second lateral projection 43 on the arm 37,

thus bringing the car to rest in the desired p0-V sition. l

In the operation of the furnace, if the car with the charge loaded on it is moved underneath in a direction from the left to the right, as viewed in the drawings, it is stopped by the stop member in the proper position after which it may be raised. If the car is brought in from the opposite direction, it may be centered by .first moving it past the stop member 35 and then bringing it back until it is stopped. When the car is lowered to remove the charge it will be observed that the stop is ineffective for either direction due to the fact that the latch is then standing in its normal position as indicated in Fig. l and the projection 4l is on the right hand side of it as viewed in the drawings.

While it will be obvious that any suitable heating means may be used, I have shown electric heating units or resistors 44 secured in the heating chamber to the roof and side walls of the furnace.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention, it will be understood, of course, that I do not wish to be limited thereto since many modications may be made, and I, therefore, contemplate by the appended claims to cover any such modilications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

l. In a furnace provided with a car bottom, a stop member provided with an operating projection and a stop projection, means movably supporting said stop member independently of the car and means carried by the car cooperating with said operating projection to move said stop member and thereby bring said stop projection into position to stop the car.

2. In a furnace provided with a car bottom, a track for said car, a stop member pivotaliy attached to said track provided with an operating projection and with a stop projection and means carried by the car cooperating with said operating projection to bring` said stop projection into position to stop the car when the car is moved along said track.

3. The combination with a furnace provid ed with a car bottom, an elevator for said car,

'a track for said car extending over said elevator and means for stopping said car in a predetermined position on said elevator, said means being arranged to provide for movement of the car in either direction when the car is lowered.

4. In a furnace provided with a bottom opening, a car, means carried by said car for closing said opening, means for raising said car, a track for said car, a stop member for positioning said car to close said furnace when said car is raised, means movably supporting said stop member independently of the car, means for biasing said stop member to an ineffective position, and operating means carried by said car cooperating with said stop member to move it to a position to stop the car when the car is moving in a predetermined direction, said operating means being' ineffective when said car is lowered.

5. In a furnace provided with a car bottom, a track for said car, a stop member provided with an operating projection and a stop projection, means pivotally supporting said stop member in the path of said car, means biasing said stop member on its pivot to a position in which said stop projection is ineffective and means carried by-said car cooperating with said operating projection to move said stop projection to a position to stop said car.

6. The combination with a furnace provided with a bottom opening, a car, a bottom wall for said furnace carried by said car, a track for said car extending below said furnace, a pivoted stop member in the path of said car biased normally to an ineffective position, an arm carried by said car arranged to cooperate with said stop as the car is moved along the track in a predetermined direction to thereby move said stop member on its pivot to a position to stop the car below said bott-om opening, and means for raising said car into said furnace whereby said stop member is released and moves to its normal position, said Varm being in an ineffective position with respect to said stop member when the car is lowered whereby the car is movable in either direction from beneath said furnace.

7. The combination with a furnace provided with a car bottom, an elevator for said car, a track for said car extending over said elevator, means for stopping said car in a predetermined position on said elevator, said means being arranged to provide for movement of the car in either direction when the car is lowered and means for securing the car in a predetermined position on said elevator.

8. The combination with a furnace provided with a bottom opening, a car, a closure for said opening carried by the car, an elevator for said car, a track for said car extending over said elevator, means for stopping the car in a predetermined position when the car is pushed on said elevator, said means being arranged to provide for movement of the car in either direction when the car is lowered, and means for locking the car in a predetermined position on said elevator.

9. The combination with a furnace provided with a car bottom, an elevator for said car, a track for said car extending over said elevator, said track being provided with vertically movable sections arranged to drop down to secure the car when the elevator is raised, and means for raising said sections when the elevator is lowered.

l0. The combination with a furnace provided with a car bottom, an elevator provided with a track for said car, said track being provided with vertically movable sections arranged to drop down to secure the wheels of the car when the elevator is raised,

and members arranged to engage and raise said sections when the elevator is lowered.

In witness whereof, I have hereto set m hand this 3rd day of July, 1930. WILLIAM K. GREGG. 

